HIGH SCHOOL ICE HOCKEY: Singerhouse helps WW-P North top WW-P South in cross-town rivalry

West Windsor — West Windsor-Plainsboro North’s Chuck Singerhouse just joined the Northern Knights hockey team this season after transferring from Hudson, Wisco. But it didn’t take him long to become a part of the North-South rivalry.

Singerhouse scored three goals, including an open net goal with seven seconds left, to seal the Northern Knights’ 7-5 win over the Pirates at Mercer County Park tonight.

“We had our rivalries in Wisconsin but this is a lot cooler because it’s cross-town,” said Singerhouse, who also had a pair of assists.

The Knights used their size advantage and strength to race to a 5-1 lead after two periods before the Pirates scored four goals in the final period to make things interesting.

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“We’re a very, very evenly matched teams. Where they dominate us is down low in our crease. There’s times we lose track of them and that’s where they scored all their goals - from in front of the crease,” said Pirates coach Laurent Lassance.

In fact, had it not been for the stellar play of Pirates goalie Karl Stafford, who made 30 saves, the game would have been out of reach before the Pirates could make their comeback.

“He’s a great goalie. He kept his team in the game Saturday and again today,” Singerhouse said.

“He was (outstanding). That’s why we stayed with him and didn’t pull him after the second period,” said Lassance. “All those goals they weren’t his fault. It was just a lack of defensive coverage which we tried to address. But they out-muscled us.”

The Northern Knights seized the momentum early on. Though they were unable to score on two power plays, they were able to keep the pressure on Stafford.

Stafford had a couple of big stops but North’s Singerhouse was finally able to put one on the board - lifting a back hand shot over the Pirates’ goalie’s shoulder from the right side of the net with 5:58 left.

Singerhouse scored again with 1:13 left to give the Knights a 2-0 lead. Stafford made a nice save on North’s Matt Strober but after the Pirates could not clear the puck Singerhouse pounced on the rebound.

“I love playing with Matty. We just click together. He knows where I am and I know where he is,” Singerhouse said.

With the win, the Northern Knights continued their drive for a relatively high state tournament berth as well as a CVC Colonial title.

For the Pirates, they must build off the strong third period.

“I’m going to go into the locker room and tell them how I’m proud of them that they came back. But now they’ve got to figure out how to put three periods together,” Lassance said.